The Block Schedule System! What it is, how it works, and how it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

If you have followed me on Instagram for a while, chances are you have heard me refer to my “Block Schedule System” many times. The Block Schedule System is something I made up years ago that has increased my productivity by 10-fold (or more!) and is hands-down one of the most useful, viral, and effective principles I share in all of my Productivity Boot Camp productivity program (psst use the code FCFBLOG for 10% off!). It not only helps you get more done in a day WITHOUT burnout, helps with time management, and makes your home insanely stress-free, but will also magically free up HOURS of time for you to fill with things that fulfill you most, and you never feel like you have time for!

If only it babysat and cured cancer, it would basically do it all.

It's one of those concepts that is extremely simple, but is literally life-changing…but takes a second to explain and understand! Thus, by popular request, I've decided to do something a little unconventional. Though we have an hour+ long video about it in Productivity Boot Camp, I have decided to make a condensed (but still thorough, don't worry) version of this system – what it is, how it works, and how it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE once you try it! Not only that, but I have included a FREE PRINTABLE so you can make a block schedule of your own, TODAY!

First, a few quick things to note before we get to the video…

The video is long, I fully understand. But plleeeeeaaassssseeeee be sure to watch the ENTIRE video! I can't stress this enough! I answer FAQ's at the end, I show a second scenario with a completely new set of circumstances and examples, and 99.9% of the questions that arise will be answered by the end if you just stick it through! So put on your headphones, let the dishes pile up or choose a giant pile of laundry to sort, and just listen/watch while doing something else and you'll get through the video in no time.

My examples are simply my examples. Yes, my schedule and circumstances are different than yours. Isn't that awesome?? This system is DESIGNED TO WORK FOR EVERYONE! Single parent? Student? Work full-time? SAHM? Retired? Amazing! Keep watching and just keep in mind that my examples are just examples and your only job is to understand how it works, and plug in your own life instead of mine!

Try it before you knock it! You may watch and think “no way, this could never work for me, this crazy lady truly is crazy!”. Well…I am a little crazy. You have that right. BUT…aside from that, just try it! Consider it my ultimate challenge! I DARE you to try it and tell me how it's not helpful for you. Truth is, it may not be. Maybe somehow you'll be an outlier that this system simply can't help. But lucky for just about everyone else on the universe, there is at least ONE nugget that will help 100% of you become more productive or manage your time better. That's how confident I am in this system.

I hope you give this a try and let me know how you adapt it to work for you! Be sure to try Productivity Boot Camp for even more productivity and time-management ideas (use the code FCFBLOG for 10% off!), and follow me on IG for daily ideas and tips!

K, but how do I get a super-cute colorful block schedule like yours??? I’m totally on board! This already fits in so well with how my days already flow, I’m excited for the focus this will add to it. Thank you for sharing!

I just printed my weekday & weekend block schedules and set my alarms. This is going to be a game changer, I just know it. Thank you so much for sharing. I love both your productivity & budget boot camp programs. You are amazing. Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re an inspiration to me and countless moms out there. I hope to meet you and Bubba in person someday. Come to Canada next? 😉

I recently graduated and am definitely struggling to figure out how to be productive on my own without feeling so overwhelmed that I end up procrastinating and even more stressed out as a result so I am super excited to give this a go! I am even more excited about being able to learn all these incredible life skills early on! This is the kind of material schools should be teaching students for home room.

Jordan as a mom of two who’s daughter just started Kindergarten this will be a game changer for me. I’m a SAHM but also have some work to do for our family business that I find hard to fit in. Do you have a fresh empty blocked schedule for everyday that you put your to-dos/lists on in the blocks or do you just work from your To-do book/planner mostly?

I LOVE this! I’m amazed by the Choresticks as well! I’m definitely getting my 2 boys in check with that system! How do I get my husband to be a part of it all? he’s still “old school” when it comes to chores. (husband works outside the house and wife inside!) aaarrrg

I found that mine is more motivated to do the jobs he cares about. So I said I don’t care if our bathroom gets cleaned every week.I have a hard enough time keeping the main bath clean. If he wants it clean then he will need to clean it. I don’t mind a little clutter but he doesn’t like it. I say if bothers you you can take care of it. I don’t have the energy or desire. I hope that makes sense

What a great idea! I’ve struggled withs chedules because I always get derailed and then feel angry with myself and give up. This macro schedule would be much easier for me. I’m going to try it right away.

Found you through Youtube and I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts!

I love this video! I am an LDS stay-at-home mom. I recently had our 9th baby and I just needed some motivation to know how to manage everything on my plate. Thanks for teaching us what you do!! I appreciate your example!

Hey Jordan,
All I can say is THANKYOU! This system has legitimately changed my life. It’s interesting how much more you get done when the clock is ticking, as a mom I’m always thinking in multitask mode which isn’t always fruitful because I end up forgetting things or getting sidetracked. This system has really helped me focus on 1 thing at a time and ultimately get some sanity back in my day!
You Rock!

After a 3 hour meltdown from feeling overwhelmed, unfulfilled, and just stressed out, this notification immediately popped up from Jordan about the block schedule. Talk about prayers being answered! Thank you Jordan for being awesome and sharing your secrets with us. I love you, you’re awesome, you’re so fun to listen to, and I’m looking forward to giving this block schedule a shot!!

I’m making my rough draft of my block schedule right now! (I say rough draft because I’m sure I’ll have to tweak a few things after a few days to get it just right haha). I absolutely love this concept! Great way to run your days, instead of letting your days run you! Thanks so much for sharing your life with us, Jordan. You’re my mom hero! God Bless!

So I am a 21 year old single, child free, female. I work part time and don’t go to school. I feel like this schedule would help me be more organized but I feel like I don’t have enough things to do within my day… Are there any other general block ideas that you or anyone might suggest?

I soooo needed this. I watched the video this morning and jumped straight to it. I loved how you stressed not to do one schedule for each day of the week. I work 2 days a week and volunteer 2 days a week so I was tempted to do like 3 versions, but no! I followed your advice and found blocks that work even for the days I’m out of home. Fantastic!

LOVE this idea! I watched the video and it really did strike a cord with me! I want to try it out! Would you be willing to ad an image of your exact block schedule to the post?! The one you’re holding in the image thumbnail! I think that would help me better see what I should and can plan for myself! thanks so much for sharing!

This was great. Ironically I’ve been trying my own version of the block schedule for almost a year and yes the one hour block does not work. I was trying to block my time just like high school and with small kiddos it was not working out. It didn’t occur to me to increase my block time to 2-4 hours. I am curious though, have you ever played with doing less time for some blocks? For example scheduling a 30 min music practice time that is at the EXACT same time each day? Excited to try out the larger blocks and already feel confident it will work based on the “duh” (face palm) I’m feeling about not thinking of switching the time up sooner. Thanks! Congrats with baby #6!!

I’m the type who works well up against a deadline and I have no problem letting go once the deadline has passed (probably why I worked at a newspaper!) so this will work well for me I think. I often feel overwhelmed, don’t know where to start, yet don’t like exact schedules. I’m divin’ in!

Work at home mom of 4 here! Thank you SO much for this! I am a high energy, motivated, business building PROCRASTINATOR! My goals the last few years have been to get more organized, over and over again. I really love this concept and am implementing it TODAY! Woo hoo! I really need to find something that works for our family, and I think this may be exactly what I need to try. I also recently found your envelope budget system, and I’m excited to give that a go too! Excited to have found your website and channel, and to find more of your amazing life hacks!

If you have a longer commute to work, say 35-45 minutes, would you include that in your work block, Morning/Evening Block, or a separate block? I typically listen to an audiobook while driving and I’m trying to listen to ones about productivity and such, although sometimes it’s just nice to listen to something light and easy. Also, I love that I can set up my car’s bluetooth to broadcast it before I leave my driveway, so I’m not on my phone at all while driving.

I just watched your video today. I downloaded an app on to my phone witb timers so that I can keep my day scheduled and not waste so much time. I’m a stay at home wife, mother of 2 adult children and grandma to 3 amazing children ages 9,5 & 4. Wish me luck as I try to get my time reorganized. And thank you for being so open about your faith.

Do you seriously move on and leave things undone? I think that’s why I’m willing to give this a try, I tend to always have everything else I need to do in the back of my mind. I make lists and push myself to get everything done. But I notice that I don’t really relax even when it’s supposed to be a relaxing time. So, today was my first day. But I’m not sure if I should seriously leave the laundry until tomorrow since I’m in a different block? I am the kind of person who will just keep adding things to blocks until they’re maxed out. Help! How do I keep from overloading my time blocks?

Hi! I reaally want to try using your block system. But how do you think it could work for a law student whose schedule varies throughout the week? 🙂 Depending on the day, I get dismissed at either 8PM, 5PM, 7PM or 11AM. And I go to school at 10AM every day. So I’m having a hard time imagining a feasible block schedule. 🙁

I would maybe try blocking your time for the latest possible time you get out- all week. Then adding some misc. things you can do for the days you get out early. So you would have a super set, intentional morning block, school block, and then 8pm on block: which would probably be fairly basic like eating a quick pre-prepped meal and preparing for the next day (and studying because LAW SCHOOL) etc. But with those things set in place you could then have your running list of the things you fit in during your “wild card” hours. 🙂

Hi I just wanted to say that I LOVE your blog!!!!!! It has helped my stat at home mom life manageable. I have just recently started my own personal blog and wanted to do a post about how your block schedule has saved my life. Is that ok with you if I link back to this page and put up no images or content that are from your site? It will purely be about how I implement block scheduling into my day. Again I will also link back to this page and reference your blog. Thanks again for all your posts! I LOVE THEM

My Husband has Severe Adult ADHD and I made him watch this video last night to help his day. He is always overwhelmed and can get distracted, off task and all kinds of discombobulated during the day. He is super excited about this concept to keep him on tract. Especially the usage of alarms. He was so excited that he even brought your video up at work during the morning meeting where they then, all sat and watched your video together! There is a reason you are viral and amazing thank you so much for all the great advice!

Love this concept so much, but I’m afraid I’m one of the freaks who won’t be able to make it work. Homeschooling four kids with different activities and classes each day of the week (including two teenagers who also work and volunteer, but don’t drive) I sometimes get 2 days a week that might be able to block similarly. 😮
Still, a few of those nuggets might come in handy!

I’m trying to figure out blocks that will work for a 36 year old, single and childless freelancer. My schedule is rather unorthodox, even for a freelancer as I work for one institution four days a week. I don’t have a traditional weekend, my days off are on Thursdays and Sundays. Mondays and Wednesdays I start lectures at 2.30 and finish at 8.45, Tuesdays I work from home, Fridays I start classes at 1.45 and finish at 7. On Saturdays I work from 9.30 till 4.45 with a 45 min break. This is only class time, admin work, emails, counseling or workshops are not included. Any tips?

That’s a hard one! My biggest tip would be to figure out what you NEED to get done on those work days, and then change the time that you do those things each day so that you are getting them done before or after classes.

They still basically stay the same, I just take out any school-related tasks and put in whatever summer-related tasks need to be added in! Some days we’re more relaxed than others, depending on what we need to get done.

Hey Jordan, I’m binge watching your videos. So many great ideas! I have 4 kids and #5 is on the way. You say so many things that resonate with me. Thank you so much for putting all this great information and ideas out there for other Moms to utilize.

I was wondering if you use a different block system for the summer months?

I just adapt our block system in the summer! In the morning we do our chore block, then our outing block, then my working block, then our dinnertime and bedtime blocks. I hope that helps! Congratulations on #5 🙂

Hi Jordan,
Thank you for sharing all these awsome ideas to get a grip on life and money!
Your budgetting tips are very usefull to plan my income better and not run from paycheck to paycheck every month, without any back up for unexpected expenses.

This block system looks super useful to me, but it seems hard to implement into my work schedule. I work fulltime in a rotating 3 shift system. First week morningshift 6-14, second nightshift 22-6 and third afternoon shift 14-22. My husband works mondays, thursdays and fridays and my two teenage daughters live with us 11 days out of 14 and with their father the other 3 days.
Personally I have a hard time during the nightshift weeks, I walk around like a zombie and even colleagues are often worried about me. Getting enough sleep during the day time is the hardest part. My internal clock is so set on daylight that I can only manage to get 2 naps in of approx 2-2.5 hrs each.
I hardly keep my eyes open during the nightshifts, but as soon as I step outside at 6am and the sun is coming up I am awake.

I am going to play around in excel with your block concept and see if I can set up a 5 week schedule which fits in all of our family schedules. My husbands weekly schedule, my daughters weekly school schedule and their 2 weeks visitation schedule and my own 3 weeks schedule.

Hi Linda! I’m so glad to hear that my budgeting tips have helped you out! The block system will change your life once you are able to figure it out. It took some trial and error on my part until I was able to figure out what worked best when for my family. You’ll be able to get there, too! As far as getting sleep during the day for your night shift weeks, have you tried turning your room into a cave so that you don’t have any light in there at all? I’ve never had to work a night shift, so I’ve never had to deal with that problem but I know that it can be frustrating to not get enough sleep and barely be able to function!

Hi Jordan,
You were right I managed to come up with a week A/B/C schedule and a seperate schedule for the saturdays and sundays to transfer my sleep cycle from week A to B, B to C and C to A.
We are into the second weekend now and so far it already has helped me lots. Thank you!

My husband and kids can follow my schedule. i printed it out and put it up on a pin board were I use one coloured pin to point out in which week or weekendday we are.
I set alarms in my iphone that go off when the new block starts. At work they were already used to me setting alarms for meetings i would otherwise forget, now my family grins everytime my alarm goes off 😉

Hi Jordan! Thank you for the great tutorial on block scheduling! I’m trying to implement one in our household. I have 3 small children, the oldest is in kindergarten and the other two stay home with me. Do you have any tips on how to do a block schedule for my children to help me stay on schedule with my block schedule??

I feel you! I schedule my time around my kids’ schedule. Nap time is always at the same time every day, so I’ll schedule work or important calls during that time so that I know that I’ll always be able to get to those items then. Even if all of my kids don’t nap, I still make them have quiet time or put in a movie for them during the baby’s nap time so that I can get some things done. I’ve also traded babysitting with neighbors/friends and gotten a local teen to babysit in the house during the summer to get things done! It’s hard with smaller kids, you just kind of have to schedule your blocks around them!

Trying this out for myself. I am NOT an organized person and I can never stick with any sort of planner. I’ve tried over the years and they all collect dust and eventually get tossed out. This looks simple and possibly something I could stick with since it’s one day at a time. I’m working toward being an indie author, my son is getting ready to start school, and I’m starting training to start my own bookkeeping business, so I’m going to NEED to be more organized!! I’m putting mine into a bullet journal of sorts because I love writing things by hand and can think better that way.

Hi, I'm Jordan

AKA, the Fun Cheap or Free Queen. As a Family Finance and Frugal Living expert, my mission is to redefine frugal and teach you to live an ABUNDANT life...on any budget. It's not only possible, it's FUN. Want proof? Read my story and see... [read more]